


The Hero's Valor

by SaaahtheWizard



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: Kind of edited, Short, The Hero of Twilight - Freeform, sad i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 02:34:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20959022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaaahtheWizard/pseuds/SaaahtheWizard
Summary: He stands, and he watches. Waits.





	The Hero's Valor

**Author's Note:**

> Have some more of my trash, I don't think anyone actually reads this part, or anything I write, but it's short, as usual for me

Hylia looked around the woods, a pained smile on her face as she walked forward. Creatures skirted away from her, unsure if she was a threat. She moved slowly, gliding over the grass until she reached the dark figure that stood out against the light. The figure stood still, back straight, hands braced on a sword that was set in front of him, point sunken into the ground, gaze focused ahead. The figure was nothing more than a skeleton, had foliage trying to reclaim his being into the ground, but still, he stood. The only acknowledgment she gets from the hero is the brief flicker of an eye in her direction. She looks to her chosen, smile on her gentle face as though trying to sooth.

"My hero, it's time for you to rest." She says, voice a soft chime. The hero continues to stand, eye glowing red on his skeletal face. 

"No." He replies, not turning to face Hylia. He stood, unmoving, unwavering, and Hylia was sure not a single force that existed in Hyrule would be able to move him. Her Hero of Time was now a force of nature, a deity in his own right. She frowns, concerned, and weary for the hero that stood before her. Her heart ached.

"My hero, you have guarded these woods for so long, have saved the land countless times, you have earned rest. Why would you refuse it?" Her voice is anxious as she talks to the skeletal figure in front of her. For the first time, he looks at the goddess, neck making an awful sound as he turns to face her, and she gets a good look at him for the first time since stepping into the woods. Her hero had stayed in the lost woods for far too long, had turned into a stalfos years ago at this point. He had stood in one place for so long that he had moss and ivy clinging to his figure, still, he was unmoved. As he looks to the goddess, he speaks four simple words.

"I am not done." The words hold a weight that few can imagine, and even fewer know. They echo slightly before the man turns back to stare at the world as it goes by. His voice had been rough, had sounded off coming from him. No longer was it the voice of the Hero she once knew. Hylia stares at her hero, heart once again clenching in her chest. 

"You can be. You owe this land, owe me, nothing else. You have already given far too much for me, and for Hyrule." She tries to softly place her hand on the shoulder of the man in front of her, tries reaching the little boy he had once been. That part of him had been gone for a long time.

"I do not do it for you, and I do not do it for Hyrule. I do it for myself, and I do it for the heroes that are to come. I do it in hopes that one day this cycle ends." He says, and Hylia can't bring herself to say anything for a long while. The hero didn't mind the silence. 

"This task you have set upon yourself will take time." 

"Time is something I am far too familiar with."

"I cannot be with you for this quest." 

"Then so be it." 

Hylia steps back, fading in a brilliant golden light, mournful look upon her face.

"Then may the time for us too met again come soon." Those words echoed through the area, slowly fading much as Hylia did. He knew the time would not come for generations yet. 

So he stood, watching, and waiting. Watching the world shift and change around him, subtle shifts that no one would notice unless they had the time that he did. He stood, waiting, until something in the air shifted, until he sees the young hero, who was much like him all those years ago. He knew this was what he had been waiting for. He watches the young man, and when the time is right, he intervenes. He takes the form of a golden wolf, hides clues and marvels at how quickly the young one finds them. He teaches the new hero the way of the sword, preparing him for battles. He gives the other advice to help further the quest when he can. Listens when the other needs someone to listen. 

The Hero's Shade is what he calls himself now, no longer able to call himself a hero. He had faded from the memory of Hyrule ages ago, the flow of time has always been cruel. He tells the new hero bits of his story when the younger seems to falter, lose confidence in his own abilities. Tells him how long it took for him to beat Ganondorf, how he had to fight the moon and live with his failures, being the only one to remember. Tells him of his triumphs, and what it took to get them. 

He continues to stand, back straight still as he guides the hero, and befriends him. He teaches, and he learns. Funny that it would take this long for him to learn these parts of himself. As he guides the Hero of Twilight, he can't help but remember his own children, his wife. The smile on the younger hero is familiar, radiant in the same way his wifes had been. He knows deep down that this child is a descendant from his own family, and feels a warmth knowing this, the first warmth he has felt in a long time.

The time finally comes for the shade to teach the younger one the final skill, the final thing he can arm his descendant within his coming fight for Hyrule. The ancient man feels an ache in his bones, in his chest, knowing that this is the time for them to part, as all things must do. 

He feels himself fall to the ground as Link masters the new skill. Laughs a bit at the irony. He doesn't stand back up as he fades into a blinding white light, exit far more abrupt compared to Hylia's. 

"You have at last mastered all of the hidden skills. Although I accepted life as the hero, I could not convey the lessons of that life to those who came after. At last, I have eased those regrets. You who have marched through countless foes, each mightier than the last... You who now gaze to the future with vision unclouded... Surely you can restore Hyrule to its stature of yore as the chosen land of the gods. Go and do not falter, my child! Remember what I have taught you, and let your courage guide you in the battles to come. Farewell! Until the time we may once again meet!”


End file.
